Vol. 38, No. 4, October 2009

Newsof the Historyletter of Society

Table of Contents Notes from the Inside News 2 Activity in the HSS Executive Office continues to quicken as our Member News  8 highly anticipated annual meeting in Phoenix approaches. Since this year’s conference will feature numerous changes, I want to provide you with an In the Service of  update on a few of these changes. We are meeting later than usual, the Galileo’s Ghost 10 weekend before the U.S. Thanksgiving, and part of the reason for doing so is that hotel rates are significantly cheaper this time of year. Since Phoenix Historians and Contemporary is a vacation destination, we also thought that members might want to  Anti-evolutionism 14 linger in the area and sample the natural beauty of the Southwest. But per- haps the biggest change in the conference is its format. We are building on Making Visible Embryos:  last year’s successful prize ceremony where we detached the prize ceremony Making a Virtual  from the banquet so that more members could attend the ceremony. We Exhibition 17 received many positive comments regarding the ceremony, but we learned that our Saturday night was now too full: prize ceremony, distinguished “Lusty Ladies or Victorian  lecture, reception, and Society dinner. Therefore, we have moved the prize Victims?” 22 ceremony to Friday night, to be followed by the distinguished lecture, which will be given by M. Norton Wise. After the lecture we will host Lone Star Historians of  an open reception honoring the prizewinners, allowing us to set aside all Science 23 of Saturday evening for an experiment. This is the experiment. After the sessions end on Saturday, everyone is invited to make their way to the Centaurus: A New Face at a  beautiful Heard Museum for the Society dinner where we will celebrate Respected Journal 24 the prizewinners and the history of science (there is a space on the registra- tion form to indicate if you plan to attend). We expect some 300 attendees World Congress of  at the dinner, and we wish to create an atmosphere that will allow delegates Environmental History to circulate freely, converse, enjoy good food, and admire the splendid holdings at the Heard (guided tours will be provided). It is our hope that  26 this event will facilitate discussion and friendship. The end result will be a stronger Society, one well positioned to foster interest in the history of science. Since this new format for the conference is experimental, I will be grateful if you would provide me feedback on what worked, what did not work, and what we could do to make the meeting even better.

And as always, thank you for your membership in the HSS. Jay History of Science Society Newsletter

News and Inquiries Cartooning Evolution Mark Aldrich has collected and posted images of cartoons on evolution culled from numerous newspapers and journals. With many images on Darwin and the , Cartooning Evolution provides a rich repository of tongue-in-cheek representations of evolution. For further information, visit http://sophia.smith. edu/~maldrich/evolution.

Evolution: A Journal of Nature, 1927-1938 available online Evolution: A Journal of Nature was published 1927-1938 by a New York-based group of pro-evolutionists following the 1925 Scopes Trial. The magazine included commentary on events, resources for teachers, and reviews/advertisements for supporting materials. For further information: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/cain/proj- ects/ejn.

Generation to Reproduction: Wellcome Strategic Award for Cambridge His- tory of Medicine The has secured major funding in the history of medicine from the Wellcome Trust. A strategic award of £785,000 for five years from 1 October 2009 will allow a cross-disciplinary group of researchers to take a concerted approach to the history of reproduction. The research will provide fresh perspectives on issues ranging from ancient fertility rites to IVF. A strongly grounded account, building on a lively field of historical investigation, will offer a fresh basis for policy and public debate. For more informa- tion: http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/generation/ or contact [email protected].

History of Science Society

Executive Office Postal Address Physical Address Editorial Policies, Advertising and Submissions PO Box 117360 3310 Turlington Hall The History of Science Society Newsletter is published in January, April, July, and October, University of Florida University of Florida and sent to all individual members of the Society. Gainesville, FL 32611-7360 Gainesville, FL 32611 The Newsletter is edited and published in the Executive Office. The format and edito- rial policies are determined by the Executive Director in consultation with the Committee on Phone: 352-392-1677/Fax: 352-392-2795 Publications and the Society Editor. All advertising copy must be submitted in electronic form. E-mail: [email protected] Advertisements are accepted on a space-available basis only, and the Society reserves the Web site: http://www.hssonline.org/ right not to print a submission. The rates are as follows: Full page (7 x 9.25”), $625; Horizontal or Vertical Half page (7 x 4.6”), $375; Quarter page (3.5 x 4.6”), $225. The deadline for inser- Subscription Inquiries tion orders is six weeks prior to the month of publication and should be sent to the attention of University of Press the HSS Executive Office. The deadline for news, announcements, and job/fellowship/ prize Phone: 877-705-1878; Fax 877-705-1879 listings is firm: Six weeks prior to the month of publication. Long items (feature stories) should E-mail: [email protected] be submitted eight weeks prior to the month of publication. Please send all material to the Or write Press, Subscription Fulfillment attention of the executive office: [email protected]. Manager, PO Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637-7363 Moving? Please notify both the HSS Executive Office and the Univer- © 2009 by the History of Science Society sity of Chicago Press.

 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

Recent Doctoral Dissertations in the History of Science The latest batch of recent doctoral dissertations pertaining to history of science has been downloaded to http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/guides/histmed/researchresource /dissertations/index_html. Because of budget cuts at the host institution these dissertation lists are now bimonthly. For further Infor- mation: http://http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/guides/histmed/researchresource /dissertations/index_html

Official Web site of the 14th Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philoso- phy of Science The official Web site of the 14th Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, which will be held in Nancy (France), 16-19 July 2011, is now available at http://www.clmps2011.org.

International History & Philosophy of Science Teaching Group Newsletter The latest IHPST newsletter is available on the web at: http://www.ihpst.org/newsletters.html

2009 James T. Cushing Memorial Prize in History and Philosophy of Physics The John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, along with the Graduate Program in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame and the Advisory Committee of the James T. Cushing Memorial Prize in History and Philosophy of Physics has awarded the 2009 prize to Hanneke Jans- sen. She is being honored for her Master’s Thesis—“Reconstructing Reality: Environment-Induced Decoher- ence, the Measurement Problem, and the Emergence of Definiteness in Quantum Mechanics.”

Notice of Closure of the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Con- temporary Scientists The University of Bath Libraries announces the closure of the NCUACS at the University of Bath to take effect 31 October 2009. If you have any queries concerning this closure, please address them to Howard Nicholson, University Librarian, University of Bath at [email protected]. In the 22 years since the Unit moved to Bath, it has secured the future of and processed nearly 200 scholarly archives now placed in many institutional libraries throughout the UK. For further information: http://www.bath.ac.uk/ncuacs/.

2010 Archaeoastronomy Workshop Announced The 2009 Conference on Archaeoastronomy of the American Southwest (CAASW) advanced the study and practice of archaeoastronomy of the American Southwest. To continue to build upon the success of the 2009 conference, a two-day technical workshop to be held 11-12 March 2010 has been scheduled to include such topics as methodological principles, surveying techniques, mathematical modeling, standardization of terms and forms, and more. For further Information: http://www.caasw.org or e-mail [email protected].

“Fathers of Astronomy” In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, the Frazier International History Museum presents the mini-exhibition, Fathers of Astronomy, featuring authentic, first-edition books written by ground-breaking scientists Galileo and Copernicus as well as the “Nuremberg Chronicle.” The exhibit closes 3 January 2010. For more information: http://www.fraziermuseum.org or call (502) 753-5663.

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009  History of Science Society Newsletter

Colloquium on the History of Psychiatry and Medicine, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard

The Colloquium on the History of Psychiatry and Medicine offers an opportunity to clinicians, researchers, and historians interested in a historical perspective on their fields to discuss informally historical studies in progress. Colloquiums will be held on 19 November, 17 December, 2009, each from 4:00 – 5:30pm. For further information e-mail David G. Satin at [email protected] or call/fax: 617-332-0032. For further information: http://https://www.countway.harvard.edu/menuNavigation/historicalResources.html.

Call for Proposals: Book Series in History of Medicine Praeger is looking for potential projects for a book series entitled Healing Society: Disease, Medicine, and His- tory. The object is to publish books that offer reliable overviews of particular aspects of medical and social history while incorporating the most up-to-date scholarly interpretations. Books are intended to be narrative surveys that serve as practical introductions or handbooks to their topics. Some topics of particular interest (although proposals on any appropriate topic would be welcome) are: history of caesarean section; history of pandemics (in general, or a particular disease such as influenza); history of drugs of abuse (or a specific drug such as opium); history of specific disabilities, diseases and medical conditions (e.g., cerebral palsy, bipolar disorder, leprosy, yellow fever, etc., either comprehensively or within a specific country/time period with appeal to a broad, general English-speaking audience). If interested, contact John Parascandola at jparascan- [email protected]. For further information: http://www.praeger.com/praeger.aspx.

CFP: Special Theme Issue: Religion and Biotechnology Papers are welcome for a special theme issue of the European Legacy that will seek to delineate, analyze and discuss the current stage of the relationship between religion and biotechnology and the impact of all sorts of human genetic engineering on traditional theological attitudes to life and the notion of the human person. The special issue is expected to present as many religious positions as possible and offer a representative array of themes and methodological approaches, encompassing discussions in epistemological, ethical, historical or socio-political terms. Submission deadline: 31 August 2010. To submit please contact: Byron Kaldis at [email protected].

Paolo Rossi Monti awarded the 2009 Balzan Prize Paolo Rossi Monti, an emeritus professor at the University of Florence, has been awarded the 2009 Balzan Prize for the history of science. He was honored for his contributions to the study of the intellectual founda- tions of science from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Each prize carries an award of one million Swiss francs, half of which must be used for research.

American Association for the History of Nursing Awards At its 26th annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the American Association for the History of Nursing awarded the Lavinia L. Dock Award for Exemplary Historical Research and Writing to Julie Fair- man (University of Pennsylvania) for her Making room in the clinic: Nurse practitioners and the evolution of modern health care (Rutgers University Press). The Mary Adelaide Nutting Award for Exemplary Histori- cal Research and Writing was awarded to Barbra Mann Wall (University of Pennsylvania) for the article “Catholic Sister Nurses in Selma, Alabama, 1940-1972,” which was published in Nursing History Review in

 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

2009. The article analyses the complex roles that race, gender, and religion played in the practice of health in the southern in the mid-20th century. The AAHN’s Teresa E. Christy Award recognizes excel- lence in historical research and writing done while the research was a doctoral student. This year the award was presented to Jacqueline Margo Brooks Carthon (University of Pennsylvania), for her dissertation “No place for the dying: A tale of urban health work in Philadelphia’s Black Belt.” For further information, go to: http://www.aahn.org.

PACHS Fellowships The Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science offers fellowships for Dissertation Research (one-month, with a $2,000 stipend) and Dissertation Writing (nine months, with a $20,000 stipend) for doctoral candi- dates whose projects are concerned with the history of science, technology or medicine. One-month fellow- ships are for students who wish to use the collections of two or more of the Center’s member institutions, which include some of the premier repositories of primary source materials in the United States. Nine-month fellowships are for students who wish to participate in our interdisciplinary community of scholars while completing research and writing their dissertations. Applications must be submitted online by 4 January 2010. For more information on the Center’s fellowships, resources for research, events and activities, see www.pachs.net.

Kenneth O. May Medal Ivor Grattan-Guinness, a historian of mathematics and logic, has received the Kenneth O. May Medal for outstanding service to the history of mathematics. The medal was bestowed by the International Commis- sion for the History of Mathematics (ICHM) on 31 July 2009 at the 23rd International Congress for the History of Science. The May Medal is named for the mathematician and historian of mathematics who was instrumental in starting the ICHM.

In Memoriam: Olga Amsterdamska Olga Amsterdamska, sociologist of science and historian of science and medicine, died Thursday, 27 August 2009, from cardiac insufficiency, a complication of myositis. Olga was born in Lodz, Poland in 1953. She studied philosophy and sociology at (BA, 1975) and completed her graduate education in sociology at Columbia (PhD 1984). Her dissertation, written under the supervision of Robert K. Merton, was published as Schools of Thought: The Development of Linguistics from Bopp to Saussure (Reidel, 1987). Since 1984 she has worked at the University of Amsterdam, first in the Department of Science Dynamics and more recently in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Her research focused on social studies of science and medicine, particularly the historical development of the biomedical and their relations to medical practice. She will be greatly missed by all her colleagues and friends.

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009  History of Science Society Newsletter

HSS Fellowship in the History of Space Science

The History of Science Society Fellowship in the For example, the organizers of the International Geo- History of Space Science, supported by the National physical Year (1957-1958) realized the important con- Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) His- tributions spacecraft data could make to science, and tory Division, funds a nine-month research project the launch of Explorer I in 1958 demonstrated that that is related to any aspect of the history of space feasibility with its discovery of the Van Allen radiation science, from the earliest human interest in space belts. In addition, scientific questions that motivated to the present. The program is broadly conceived spaces sciences and scientific principles from which it and includes the social, cultural, institutional and evolved have even earlier roots. personal context of space-science history. Proposals Space science has implications for our under- of advanced research in history related to all aspects standing of the moon and planets, fields and parti- of the history of space science are eligible. Sciences cles in space, celestial bodies beyond the solar system of space and sciences affected by data and concepts such as stars and galaxies, the Earth itself, and the developed in connection with space exploration life sciences, especially exobiology. Some works on include astronomy, Earth science, optics, meteorol- space science are listed at the NASA History Office ogy, oceanography, and physiology. The fellowship Web site: http://history.nasa.gov/on-line.html. is open to applicants who hold a doctoral degree in history or a closely related field, or students who have OBLIGATIONS OF THE RECIPIENT completed all requirements for the Ph.D., except the 1. The recipient shall engage in space science dissertation, in history of science or a related field. research for nine months, normally August-May, but The stipend is $17,000 US; the fellowship term is within the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011. nine months and must fall within the period of 1 2. While receiving the stipend, the fellow shall July 2010 to 30 June 2011. Go to http://hssonline. devote at least 50% of his/her efforts to the research org for further information and an application form. program. The deadline for applications is 3 March 2010. 3. The Fellow shall provide to the NASA His- tory Office a copy of any publications that emerge 2010–2011 Fellowship in the History of Space from the research undertaken during the fellowship Science year. The fellowship, offered by the History of Science 4. The Fellow will be responsible for office space, Society and supported by the National Aeronautics equipment, and supplies. & Space Administration (NASA) History Division 5. The Fellow will be expected to present a paper will annually fund one Fellow, for up to one aca- or public lecture on the findings of the research. demic year, to undertake a research project related to 6. The Fellow will write a report at the term’s the history of space science. conclusion. 7. By accepting the fellowship, the recipient What is Space Science? incurs no obligations to NASA or HSS as regards The HSS Fellowship in the History of Space future publications. Science is intended to fund research in the history of Eligibility space science broadly conceived, including its social, Applicants must possess a doctorate degree in cultural, institutional and personal context. The his- history of science or in a closely related field, or be tory of space science predates the founding of NASA. enrolled as a student in a doctoral degree-granting

 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

program and have completed all requirements for the Deadline, Submission Information, and Notifica- Ph.D., except the dissertation, in history of science tion or a related field. Eligibility is not limited to U.S. Applications must be received by 3 March citizens or residents. 2010. Submit to: History of Space Science Fellow- ship, History of Science Society, PO Box 117360, Term and Stipend 3310 Turlington Hall (for courier delivery), Universi- The Fellowship term is for a period of nine ty of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7360. Notifica- months. The Fellow will be expected to devote the tion: The names of the winner and an alternate will term largely to the proposed research project. The be announced in early May 2010. stipend is $17,000 for a nine-month fellowship during the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011. The Resources starting and ending dates within that period are Among the resources available to historians of flexible. Funds may not be used to support tuition or space are the NASA Archives. These include mate- fees. Sources of anticipated support must be listed in rials related to the International Geophysical Year the application form. and NASA missions, as well as to the history of the institution itself. NASA’s History Office is dedicated Application to documenting and preserving the agency’s history. The applicant must complete an application form More information, including a list of some works on and offer a specific and detailed research proposal the history of space science, is available at: http://his- that will be the basis of the Fellow’s research during tory.nasa.gov/. the term. NASA’s space science programs today are man- aged by the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at Please Note: NASA Headquarters, and carried out by its God- · Submit your completed original application dard Spaceflight Center and Jet Propulsion Labora- plus 3 copies (each copy should contain an applica- tory. More details are available at http://www.nasa. tion form, proposal, and CV collated). gov/missions/science/index.html, including a list of · Fill in the application form on your comput- all current NASA missions. er or with a typewriter and use an additional sheet if necessary (e.g., names of references for the letters For Application Form, click on http://www. of recommendation). Applicants are responsible hssonline.org/images/Newsletterimages/2009/Octo- for gathering the letters of recommendations and ber/NASAApplication2010.pdf sending them in their sealed envelopes to the ad- dress below. The letters should address the historical competence of the applicant, his/her ability to use historical concepts and methods, and his/her ability to communicate.

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009  History of Science Society Newsletter

Member News Lawrence Badash (University of The History of Science Society would like to con- California, Santa Barbara, emeri- gratulate members who won ACLS fellowships in tus) recently published A Nuclear 2009. Winter’s Tale: Science and Politics in the 1980s (MIT Press). Badash Michael C. Carhart, Old Dominion University maps the rise and fall of the sci- Alex Csiszar, Harvard University ence of nuclear winter, examining Peter L. Galison, Harvard University research activity, the populariza- Monica H. Green, Arizona State University tion of the concept, and the Reagan-era politics that Jen Hill, Dartmouth College combined to influence policy and public opinion. Susan Lamb, Tara E. Nummedal, Brown University James R. Fleming’s response to Bjørn Lomborg’s Emily J. Pawley, University of Pennsylvania “Climate engineering: Its cheap and effective” in The Chitra Ramalingam, Harvard University New Security Beat can be found at Justin Sytsma, University of Pittsburgh http://newsecuritybeat.blogspot.com/2009/08/guest- Matthew C. Underwood, Harvard University contributor-james-r-fleming.html. Theresa Marie Ventura, Alex Wellerstein, Harvard University Nancy Nersessian has been elected a Fellow of the Further information: http://www.acls.org/fel- Cognitive Science Society. She has also received a lows/new. grant from the National Science Foundation RE- ESE Program: “Becoming a 21st Century Scientist: Do you subscribe to SCIENCE? If so, you are au- Cognitive practices, identity formation and learning tomatically a member of the American Association in integrative systems biology.” for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). You should also be a member of Section L, the History & Phi- A retirement symposium was losophy of Science section of AAAS. As a section held 17 April 2009 at the member, you support history of science by giving the University of Minnesota in field more visibility, increasing the AAAS resources honor of Alan Shapiro. Speak- committed to sponsoring historians of science at the ers recognized Alan as a leading AAAS’s annual meeting. Be sure to check your sec- scholar on Newton’s optics, an tion membership status on the AAAS Web site at influential and effective teacher, http://www.aaas.org. and thoughtful advisor and friend. His leadership includes Come to the AAAS’s annual meeting, 18-22 Febru- twice serving on the Council of ary 2010 in San Diego – go to http://www.aaasmeet- HSS, as program chair, and as head of the Committee ing.org to see the schedule. Graduate students get free on Honors and Prizes. He also has had notable involve- registration by serving as session aides! ment with the Midwest Junto, the AAAS, and Sigma Xi. Although retired, Alan remains active on the edito- “Not a member yet? HSS members are eligible for rial board of five journals and is Vice President of the reduced rate memberships (which include SCI- International Academy for the History of Science. ENCE magazine) of $99 US.”

 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

In Budapest: The US Consortium for the Division of History of Science and Technology

This year more than 120 US scholars joined some funding travel grants for students and independent 1,400 attendees at the XXIII International Congress of scholars attending the congress. History of Science and Technology held in Budapest, An important function of each congress is to decide 28 July to 2 August. The meeting was memorable for where the next meeting will take place. In Budapest, the stimulating papers, cross-cultural discussions, hors British Society for the History of Science made a suc- d’oeuvre plates heaped with the world’s best petit fours, cessful pitch to hold the 2013 conference in Manchester. and sightseeing on the So why go to Manchester Danube River. Joseph in 2013, aside from visit- Dauben, Margaret Vining, ing Manchester United’s Jay Malone and I attended shrine to real football – the the congress as members of “Field of Dreams,” or the a consortium charged with lavish city hall built with liaising with the Division the wealth of the Industrial of the History of Science Revolution, or sampling and Technology (DHST). what has to be the stron- The Division of History gest mango pickle this side of Science and Technology (DHST) is the global orga- of South Asia? As science, philosophy of science and nization for history of science with about 50 member history of science have become more specialized, and the nations. Like HSS, the origins of the DHST lie with the latter two more professionalized, scientists have become activities of George Sarton and others. The DHST is one rare at HSS meetings. Yet they are in greater abundance of two divisions of the International Union of History at DHST meetings, where they recall the rather dimin- and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS) and is a showcase ished outreach function of our profession and add much for creative internationalism with regard to the history of to the proceedings with their historical work, insights, science, history of technology, and philosophy of science. and concern with the praxis of science. Moreover, inter- The scientific academies of many DHST member national scholars have distinctive views on historiogra- nations pay dues to the organization and often select del- phy and the cultural significance of science. Engaging egates to its quadrennial congresses. The US, however, with them enlivens our profession and makes us all bet- is somewhat exceptional and relies on National Science ter historians. With luck, and Jay Malone’s skillful grant Foundation funding. Many people – including Mi- writing, I hope the US will have substantial representa- chael Sokal , Keith Benson, Joan Cadden, Jay Malone, tion at the next congress in Manchester in 2013. and the HSS and DHST past-president Ron Numbers – have worked with aplomb to secure the cost-effec- HSS members wishing to know more about the orga- tive continuation of a US presence in the DHST. The nization and its valuable projects, including the World consortium had its inception in 2003 when HSS joined Web of Science and its relationship to UNESCO, are with other US-based societies to represent US interests. directed to this Web page: http://www.dhstweb.org. The founding members believed it was important that the US not withdraw from the international community Michael A. Osborne (although HSS is not a US society, a large number of Oregon State University its members reside within the US). A major goal of the Officer in the Division of the History of Science and consortium is to oversee US interests and to continue Technology

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009  History of Science Society Newsletter

In the Service of Galileo’s Ghost: A Short Guide to History, Assault, and Ideology

As part of her 2008-2009 Gug- only my work, but also my appear- genheim Fellowship, Alice Dreger ance. (Trés feminist, non?) At one is writing a manuscript on science point in the panel, I heard a young and identity politics in the Internet Women’s Studies student next to age. In this article, she discusses her me say to her friend, “This Dreger experiences – good and bad, activist woman is terrible!” I whispered to and academic – that led her to this her, “Um, I’m that Dreger woman, project, and the threats to both his- and I don’t recognize the person tory and science. they are describing.” She looked stunned and quietly moved away I had another one of those from me, as if she’d just run into moments when I thought: “They an armed skinhead wanted for just don’t prepare you for this in murder. graduate school.” In June 2008, As I listened in the bar to I found myself in Cincinnati for Rosa’s wry and wise remarks about the National Women’s Studies transgender politics and contempo- Association (NWSA) conference, rary feminist theory, I realized that sitting in one of those interchange- her unexpected appearance during able, soulless conference hotels, the panel’s Q&A reminded me of in the bar at midday, drinking a that big angel who comes crash- stiff gin and tonic, and calculating ing through the ceiling in Angels when I’d be sober enough to drive in America. When I had turned to the hell away. A brave and tall and see who from the audience would funny transgender woman named speak first, and saw it was a tall Rosa Lee Klaneski was telling me, transwoman, I had assumed I was in her remarkably soothing voice, in for more of the same in terms about how she’d developed the of utter misrepresentation of my independence of mind and the work. So much for my stereotyp- fortitude of gut to stand up against ing. Instead of ganging on, Rosa a panel of other transwomen who’d been assailing me stood up and said: and my work an hour earlier. I’d had to sit quietly and listen to this panel, a Rosa Lee Klaneski, Trinity College. I cite Alice panel that included a Hollywood-based trans-entrepre- Dreger’s academically-rigorous work all the time neur whom the editors insist I identify only as “Madam in my own work. She doesn’t know who I am X” (for reasons that will soon become apparent). Since but I know who she is. And I am just wonder- writing of my young son as my “precious womb turd” ing[...] – and I’m a transgender person myself – a phrase now turned into a family joke – Madam X, – what gives any transgender person the right to had spent her time mounting Web pages mocking not abrogate someone else’s first amendment right to

10 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

freedom of speech just because they hold an un- own name (which seemed, in that identity-politics- popular minority view? In my opinion [regard- crazed environment, hopeless), but in the name ing] the person that you are arguing against [i.e., of...well, Galileo. scientist Michael Bailey, my historical subject], I completely agree with you. Bunk. Ridiculous If, during my Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of science. And should be classified as such. I got Science at Indiana University, some had told me that, that. What gives us the right to censor [Dreger’s by the time I reached full professor, I would be rhetori- or Bailey’s work] just because we don’t like it? cally strung up at the National Women’s Studies As- sociation and, the very next summer, treated as some- The objection raised in return was that the panel thing of a heroine at the Human Behavior & Evolution didn’t constitute censorship. Technically this was true, Society – you know, the sociobiologists – I would have but anyone with any background on this knew – as told them they’d been reading my tea leaves in a mirror. Rosa and I did – the intimidation tactics used to try to After all, my dissertation and my first book were silence Bailey, me, and others. on the social construction of sex categories, specifically The latest had arrived in the form of a note posted on the theoretic and clinical treatment of people labeled on the door of that very meeting room, stating that “hermaphrodites” in late 19th- and early 20th-century anyone entering automatically consented to being France and Britain. Through that work, I found myself filmed by the aforementioned panelist, Madam X, and embroiled in the rights movement, and ended that she could use the film at will. I had the notice up being one of that movement’s leaders for about removed by a conference organizer before I entered, but a decade. (Among other activities, I helped run the I still made sure I said nothing in the session. Intersex Society of North America, whose legal address After the session dissolved, I went to Rosa and was, for about seven years, my home.) That work made said, “You’re right, I don’t know you, but I want to me a queer rights activist, and then a disability rights know you. Can I buy you a drink?” Then, just after we activist, too, and a steady critic of scientists and clini- walked out of the session room on our way to cranberry cians whose work, I argued, harmed people by treating juice with soda water and lime for Rosa and something them as pathological merely because they were atypical. stronger for me, X came up and towered over me. She My work was (and probably still is) commonly used in said something like, “Alice, honey, I am not done with Women’s Studies and Queer Studies courses. you. In fact, I haven’t even started with you. I am going What happened? to ruin you.” She started naming how she would do I took on a new historical project in 2006, one that it. I stayed upright, but uncontrollable tears ran down ultimately made me realize that my allegiance to truth, my face. And at that point, Rosa crashed through the scholarship, and justice had, for years, been misunder- ceiling again. She stepped between us, and told me (but stood as an allegiance to left-wing identity politics. actually X) that the legal definition of assault did not My research covered the Bailey book controversy. require physical touch, and that I could call the police In 2003, J. Michael Bailey, a sex psychology researcher right now. That made X go away. at , published a book called No one tells you the legal definition of assault in The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gen- graduate school. der-Bending and Transsexualism. In the book, Bailey Taking on controversial work has been my supported the work of the researcher-clinician Ray choice, and knowing full well X’s capabilities, I Blanchard who argues that male-to-female (MtF) trans- could have chosen to skip the trip to Cincinnati. sexualism is not primarily about gender identity, as the But I had grown, by that time, to be consumed by mainstream media and transgender rights movements the issues of academic freedom and standards of would have us believe, but rather about sexuality (eroti- scholarship. I felt I had to make a stand not in my cism). Continued next page

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 11 History of Science Society Newsletter Continued from previous page Blanchard believes MtF transsexuals divide logi- (To explain the “logic” behind this would take another cally into: (1) “homosexual transsexuals,” meaning MtF 1,000 words.) people who are sexually attracted to men, and who Part of me has thought about returning to study transition in part to take straight male lovers; and (2) dead people; there’s nothing like this kind of experience “non-homosexual transsexuals,” who Blanchard calls to turn an historian necrophilic. But first, I’m going to “autogynephilic,” because this latter group are sexu- finish a Guggenheim-funded book about science and ally aroused by the idea of being of becoming women. identity politics in the Internet age. I’m looking at sev- “Autogynephiles” are gynephilic (attracted mostly to eral cases, including Bailey’s and my own twin experi- females), but their gynephilia is (at least in part) self-di- ences – my intersex identity activism, wherein I pushed rected. According to Blanchard’s demographic research, against scientists, and my post-Bailey experience, virtually all prominent transwomen, particularly the wherein I’ve been constructed as a privileged academic academics would fall into the latter group. Blanchard’s (true) with an anti-trans-rights, even eugenical agenda theory is not popular among these women; most who (false). (dare to) express an opinion believe it paints them as As part of the book project, for the last nine sexual perverts rather than people with gender-genital months, I’ve looked at what happened after self-styled mismatches. “journalist” Patrick Tierney published Darkness in El As I documented in my work on the subject, in Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the 2003 three very visible transwomen decided to take Amazon. Tierney charges the late geneticist James Neel it upon themselves to try to “kill” Bailey, the danger- and anthropologist with a host of ously articulate messenger of Blanchard’s work. Andrea crimes against the Yanomamö of South America. And James, , and Deirdre McCloskey mount- I’ve looked at what happened to Randy Thornhill and ed what became an international campaign, organizing Craig Palmer following their book A Natural History of formal charges against Bailey, accusing him of, among Rape (death threats); to Elizabeth Loftus when she chal- other things, doing IRB-qualified human subjects lenged “recovered memory syndrome” (California Su- research without IRB oversight, writing about subjects preme Court case); to Bruce Rind when he co-authored without their consent, having sex with a transsexual a meta-analysis showing maybe people aren’t quite so research subject, and falsifying key parts of his book. harmed by childhood sexual abuse (denounced by an When I took on this project, I thought it would be Act of Congress); and to Charles Roselli, who had the a he-said/she-said history of communication discon- dubious honor of finding out what happens when Peo- nects involving an insensitive scientist and some mostly ple for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) teams well-meaning activists. Instead, I found that Bailey had up with LBGT activists. These odd bedfellows charged not committed the crimes attributed to him, and that Roselli with developing an anti-gay eugenic program Conway, James, and McCloskey had reason to know via his research on “gay rams.” Bizarrely, Roselli, a mild- that. I showed that the attacks nearly ruined Bailey’s mannered animal researcher in Oregon, found himself professional and personal lives, all for the sin of sup- taken on by none other than Martina Navratilova. Oh, porting an unpopular theory. It was an ugly history. and 20,000 e-mails were sent to Roselli’s university My fate since then: false charges lodged with my president calling for his firing. administration; threats made against my own col- More than one person has suggested I title my book leagues; and a powerful take-over of my Internet iden- I Am Not Making This Up. tity. Just my luck to piss off a population so computer- Lacking space for a complete report, let me say savvy! Though it does come with occasional comic what I think is most important for my fellow historians relief. My favorite moment so far: a transwoman filed of science to know. First and foremost, we academics a formal complaint with my husband’s dean essentially are all in danger. Maybe you already know this, but if charging my husband with having had sex with me. so, I want you to think about it some more: We live in

12 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter a world where our work, our identities, and even our in particular now have an opportunity, perhaps even values can be reconstructed in utterly crazy ways at the a duty, to take the lead as these controversies break, to speed of light. The “democratization” of knowledge, ask the evidentiary questions of who really said, found, enabled by the Internet, has led to a widespread at- and did what, and what the historical context was. By titude that a peer-reviewed article is not that different providing this kind of accountability, we have an op- from a well-turned blog. And blogs move faster than we portunity to become guardians of the environment in possibly can. If you think what happened to me cannot which good science can happen. happen to you or your colleagues, think again. I do not suggest that we become handmaidens to We must reassert the difference between scholar- science, but rather that we become standard-bearers of ship and other, and do this not only with our students, quality scholarship (regardless of discipline) – that we the media, our elected representatives and our religious reassert often why universities are not corporations; why leaders, but also with each other. (Paging NWSA.) A tenure is necessary for those doing hard inquiry; and disturbing amount of what I see at conferences and why peer review is fundamentally different from the even in some journals is plain sloppy in terms of reason- court of public opinion. ing and language and weak in terms of evidence. We As the mainstream press collapses, this role will can no longer afford to politely allow those with whom become ever more important. No longer can we count we agree to get by with substandard work. Taking on good science reporters and excellent investigative academic freedom seriously must include the responsi- journalists to sort out what’s happened. As I’ve worked bility to put solid reasoning and evidence before all else on this book, I’ve met reporter after reporter who told – before ideology, before allegiances, before our desire me she or he wanted to pursue some of what I pursue, to seem or to not seem challenging. (Quick bottom line but were blocked for lack of time or funding. application: Ward Churchill must go; see the outstand- I am not suggesting most of us turn to dealing with ing report by the Colorado faculty on what he actually ongoing scientific controversies. I think it is critically did in his “scholarship.”) important that most of us deal with the past, in part be- And good news: as I’ve wandered from discipline to cause it is from these histories of “finished” events that discipline, I feel that historians are way ahead in terms we gain insight about how human knowledge works. of protection of standards. I’ve become enormously But I suggest that we go to the archives fully aware of proud of being an historian in the last two years. As I what’s happening outside our climate-controlled mauso- worked on the Neel and Chagnon history, I ran into leums. Because, in the end, we can’t live in the archives previous work done by Susan Lindee, John Beatty, as if they were bomb shelters outfitted with 50 years’ Diane Paul; to encounter fellow scholars so committed worth of supplies. We must make sure the world is kept to evidence, clarity, and honesty is like finding water in safe for real scholarship – be it history or science. the desert. I feel in the last year, as I never did in graduate Historians have not, in my estimation, lost their school, a true vocation as an historian of science. I feel way amid all the well-intentioned academic politics of urgently aware of what is at stake, of what we can (and the last half-century. As a class, even as we recognize must) do for the world. Having now experienced the the imperfection of the historical record, the subjectivity contemporary equivalent of house arrest, on many days of the historian, the inevitable need to look at history in I feel I can hear the ghost of Galileo. And he’s asking us artificially bounded ways, we retain at our core a sense to make damned sure we move. that a good argument is one with good support. To quote my colleague Joel Howell, who helped correct the Alice Dreger is Professor of Clinical Medical Humanities public record on James Neel, we historians can agree and Bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, North- that making shit up is simply not acceptable. western University. For this reason I believe that historians of science

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 13 History of Science Society Newsletter

Some Thoughts on Historians and Contemporary Anti-evolutionism

By John M. Lynch

In a recent book review for The British Journal of Epicurean for the History of Science, Thomas Dixon asks what (i.e. pagan, contribution historians of science can make to the anti-Christian) debate about intelligent design (ID). As myself and materialism others noted in a 2008 Isis Focus article, historians and a cause of have many opportunities to make contributions to many modern this most public of debates, yet our community has ills. Even the largely resisted the Siren’s call of engagement with briefest exami- John M. Lynch . In this brief note, I would like to offer nation of some some thoughts on current creationist tactics with re- of these works clearly indicates the furrow that the gards to the history of science and hopefully inspire ID movement is attempting to plough. some readers to engage in this significant debate. Political scientist John West outlines these claims The modern ID movement arose in the last two in his book, Darwin Day in America: How Our decades of the last century, although to a significant Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the degree its roots were planted in the Young Earth Name of Science. According to West, who echoes a Creationist movement which re-emerged in America claim previously made by Benjamin Wiker, the pa- in the 1960s. The Discovery Institute (DI, the gan materialism of the Greek philosopher Epicurus leading proponent and funder of ID) disputes this and the Roman poet Lucretius gave rise to modern historical fact even in the face of manifest evidence scientific naturalism. As West sees it, this influence presented in the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial. While in turn has lead to the rule of a scientific elite over purportedly beginning with the secular purpose of democracy, utopian idealism, moral relativism, cen- convincing scientists that their adherence to natural- sorship of dissent, and dehumanization. istic explanation was misplaced, the ID movement’s This theme of dehumanization has become religious motivations became obvious both in private something of an idée fixe for modern anti-evolution- and public writings. Having failed to convince the ists. Darwin is seen as, if not a causative factor of, scientific community – and having been dealt a sig- then an inspiration for, the totalitarian regimes of nificant blow by the ruling in Kitzmiller – the move- the 20th century. Darwin’s work, we are told, led to ment has recently stepped up its incursions into his- the devaluation of human life, eugenics, the Holo- torical analysis with a series of works that collectively caust, Planned Parenthood, and fetal stem cell re- see modern biology, in the guise of an historically search. Nowhere is this theme more evident than in uncontextualized “Darwinism,” as both the product the pro-ID movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, in which Ben Stein unsubtly portrays Darwin’s writ-

 T. Dixon, British Journal for the History of Science (2009) 42:440.  For example, B. Wiker, Moral Darwinism: How We Became  G. Gooday et al. Isis (2008) 99:322-330. Hedonists (InterVarsity, 2002) & The Darwin Myth: The Life  See, for example, the notorious “Wedge” document and Lies of (Regnery, 2009); R. Weikart, From (http://www.antievolution.org/features/wedge.html) for the Darwin to Hitler (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004); J. West, Darwin former and the evolution of the writings of Philip E. Johnson Day in America (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2007). All or William Dembski for the latter. the authors are connected formally with the DI.

14 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

ings as leading to the Holocaust and “Darwinists” as work in being directed at the true believers rather waging a campaign of terror against ID proponents. than the academic community. The temptation may Egregiously, Stein selectively quotes Darwin to make thus be for professional historians to ignore their it appear as if he disapproved of measures to aid the claims – a temptation that I feel must be rejected. As sick and infirm. Even more egregiously, in publicity historians, we have a social duty to correct error and interviews Stein has baldly stated that “science leads over-simplification where it is foisted on the public you to kill people” and “Darwinism led – in a pretty by politically and religiously motivated individuals, much straight line – to Nazism and the Holocaust.” and this responsibility goes beyond what sociologist While it would be comforting to imagine that Stein’s and ID sympathizer Steve Fuller has dismissively seen position was that of a politically motivated crank, it as “catching the errors” of the creationists. There is has received support from historian and DI fellow something far more fundamental at stake. At a time Richard Weikart, who appears onscreen with Stein where historians have eschewed Whig or “Great during an interview conducted at Dachau. Weikart’s Man” histories, anti-evolutionists are presenting their published attempts to link Darwin to Hitler have “Not-So-Great Man” view of Darwin. They mis- received negative commentary from such historians represent the very nature of historical enquiry; they as Robert Richards, Paul Farber, Sander Gliboff, and manipulate history until it risks becoming a mere Nils Roll-Hansen, yet these ideas have continued shadow of the rich and intricate tapestry that it is. to be promulgated by Benjamin Wiker (again, a DI Our collective research as historians can obvi- fellow) in his The Darwin Myth: The Life and Lies of ously help disprove claims made by anti-evolutionists Charles Darwin, a biography that Gliboff accurately, regarding both the social effects of scientific ideas if caustically, compares with the writings of the jour- and how the scientific community functions. Many nalist Rita Skeeter from the Harry Potter series. of us study scientific change, community forma- Given the rigorous peer review process required tion over time, and the treatment of heretical ideas for publication in leading academic journals and and controversy. In so doing, we have developed a presses, it is unsurprising that ID proponents make realistic view of science and its social effects – both little attempt to engage with the community of positive and negative – along with a clear conceptu- professional historians. Their claims are made in alization of how evolutionary biology has matured as books published largely by conservative (e.g. Regn- a field over the past two hundred years. Our re- ery, Intercollegiate Studies Institute), religious (e.g. search directly opposes the erroneous and simplistic InterVarsity, an outgrowth of InterVarsity Christian views of the anti-evolutionists, yet it remains largely Fellowship campus ministry) or vanity (e.g. Erasmus unknown to the public. While I am not calling for Press, owned by William Dembski) presses. Unsur- historians to engage in popularization of their work, prisingly papers are neither presented at conferences although that too may have benefits, I do believe nor published in relevant journals and little attempt that increased public engagement for those of us who is made to undergo review by practicing historians have something relevant to say debunking the claims with expertise in Darwin, his ideas, and their socio- of anti-evolutionists is nothing less than a shared cultural effects. In short, anti-evolutionist historical social responsibility. Such engagement is, thankfully, scholarship accurately mirrors creationist scientific beginning. Such public engagement is not, however, with-  For more of Stein’s utterances, and a complete debunking Continued next page of the claims made in the movie, see http:///expelledex- posed.com  S. Fuller, Isis (2009) 100: 115. For example, Mark Borrello has publically engaged with S. Gliboff,Reports of the National Center for Science   John West on the claim that there is a link between Darwin Education (in press) http://ncseweb.org/rncse/29/review- and dehumanization. See http://www.mnscience.org/index. darwin-myth php?id=138

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 15 History of Science Society Newsletter Continued from previous page out its perils. As detailed in the last issue of this newsletter, Peter Bowler, Sandra Herbert and Janet Browne were not given full disclosure by Fathom Media (an offshoot of the creationist organization Creation Ministries International) when inter- viewed for the documentary The Voyage That Shook The World. Unaware of the underlying anti-evo- lutionary agenda of the work, the historians gave interviews that were apparently selectively edited to highlight certain aspects of Darwin’s life. Equally as problematic was the equation of the contribu- tions of historians with those of unqualified non- experts on matters of history. As Bowler et al. note, “if academic historians refuse to participate when movements they don’t approve of seek historical information, these historians can hardly complain if less reputable sources are used instead.” When we speak out, we risk being caught between the Scylla of non-engagement and the Charybdis of having our statements misused. Still, if the past few years are any indicator, it is highly likely that the future will see further cre- ationist manipulation of history within the public sphere, and the only way to combat that trend is active engagement. Public engagement with those communities who seek to misuse history will be frustrating and not without dangers. Yet it also of- fers us an opportunity to enlighten the public about the nature of historical enquiry and the fertile area that the history of science represents.10

John M. Lynch is an Honors Faculty Fellow and Prin- cipal Lecturer at Arizona State University, where he divides his time between Barrett, the Honors College and the Center for Biology & Society at the School of Life Sciences. The opinions contained herein are solely his own.

 P. Bowler et al. History of Science Society Newsletter (2009) http://hssonline.org/publications/Newsletter2009/ July_Perils_Publicity.html 10 Previous discussion regarding historians’ engagement on this issue resulted in a number of letters to Isis. I would like to encourage an ongoing dialog at http://blog.jmlynch. org (search for “HSS newsletter”).

16 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

Making Visible Embryos: Making a Virtual Exhibition

Electronic media and the Internet have dramati- cally changed academic pub- lishing and communication across numerous disciplines, including history of science, technology and medicine. Journals are on their way to becoming exclusively electronic; jobs and confer- ences are advertised through discussion lists; societies communicate with their members through electronic newsletters and Web sites; groups collaborate using The front page of Making visible embryos (www.hps.cam.ac.uk/visibleembryos) wikis. Now, with the expan- sion of digitized museum, ing the production of Web-based content; the online library and archival collections, research practices HSS Newsletter seems an especially suitable place for have changed as well. Electronic books are not yet this. standard, and Google’s monopolistic and commercial Pioneered in the early 1990s, the online – origi- library digitization is a problem as well as a boon, nally “virtual” – exhibition was an attempt by mu- but convenience of use and accessibility are continu- seums and libraries to showcase their work to wider ally attracting new readers. Funding bodies are fond audiences and engage with the then-new medium of of the visibility the Internet brings to a project. Yet the Internet. The Library of Congress’s collections for all the expansion of the electronic content as well of files and images from the exhibitions 1492: an as the increasingly sophisticated and user-friendly ongoing voyage (http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492. technologies, historians of science overall are putting exhibit/Intro.html), Scrolls from the Dead Sea little effort into designing material specifically for the (http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.ex- Web. Blogs, such as Biomedicine on Display (http:// hibit/intro.html) and Revelations from the Russian www.corporeality.net/museion/), have acquired archives (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/intro. faithful audiences, as did the instructive podcast html) could be seen as the first, although in those series The Missing Link, (http://missinglinkpodcast. pre-Netscape days they had to be downloaded from wordpress.com/). But investing time and effort into a FTP server. The National Library of Medicine of exclusively Web-based forms of publication and the National Institutes of Health, which in its 1986 communication is still rare. Here I draw on a recent Long Range Plan (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ar- personal experience of creating an online exhibition chive/20040721/pubs/plan/ei/contents.html) foresaw to discuss the historical and current issues surround- the era of digital images distributed over high-speed

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 17 History of Science Society Newsletter

of tight narrative link, exten- sive hyperlinking, or frequent updating of content. Many were no longer attached to a physical exhibition but ex- isted on the web only. Other projects, such as The virtual laboratory (http://vlp.mpiwg- berlin.mpg.de/index_html), combined the elements of virtual exhibitions with digi- tal collections of images and texts into larger, looser, more open-ended entities. By the mid-2000s, virtual exhibi- tions had built up a tradition and achieved a certain level of recognition, but the rules Aristotelian epigenesis in Jacob Rueff’s midwifery textbook (www.hps.cam.ac.uk/visibleem- of the genre were more fluid bryos/s1_3.html) than ever. For my purposes, defining it as a web-based, computers, was especially committed to communi- structured presentation con- cating history of medicine in this format. sisting of text and images will do. Early on, attempts were made to define the online In 2004, Nick Hopwood, a lecturer in the exhibition and delineate it from another heavily im- Department of History and Philosophy of Science age-oriented web-based genre, digital collections. It at the University of Cambridge, and I, then a Ph.D. was argued that objects had to be tied together by a student there, first discussed the idea of an online ex- narrative or in another relational form; and while col- hibition about the history of embryo images, Nick’s lections often had a common theme too, the connec- long-term research area and a theme linked to my tion was never as tight. Others defined them as “on- interests in anatomical disciplines and in the visual. line, World Wide Web-based, hypertextual, dynamic Images of human embryos today surround us ev- collections devoted to a specific theme.” As new erywhere, in clinics, classrooms, laboratories, family projects of this type followed, it became clear that any albums, newspapers and, not least, on the Internet. one exhibition rarely respected all the rules, whether Debates about abortion, evolution, assisted concep- tion and stem cells have made these representations  Kalafatovic, Martin R. Creating a winning controversial, but they are also routine. Our aim, in online exhibition: a guide for libraries, archives the absence of any survey of this field, was to show and museums, Chicago: American Library Asso- how, over the last two and half centuries, embryo ciation, 2002, 1-3. images were produced and made to represent some  Silver, D. “Interfacing American culture: of the most potent biomedical objects and subjects The perils and potentials of virtual exhibitions.” of our time. The exhibition was funded as the main American Quarterly 49(1997), 825–850 (http:// public engagement activity under a Wellcome en- muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_quarterly/v049/ hancement award in the history of medicine that the 49.4er_folklore.html). Department has used to build expertise in history

18 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

of reproduction. (It recently gained a higher-level strate- gic award in this field.) By using the format of a freely accessible online exhibition, we hoped to circumvent the temporary unavailability of local gallery space, to reach a wider audience in what was becoming the domi- nant medium for displaying embryo images, and to do so at relatively low cost. The last point was essential: the budget covered a one-year salary for a postdoctoral researcher-cum-designer (me), a modest budget for images of about £2,500, a computer, a scanner and a Ernst Haeckel’s controversial and canonical grid (www.hps.cam.ac.uk/visibleembryos/ s4_2.html) digital camera. We initially intended to complete the exhibition by of premodern representations of the unborn in the 2006 but it took twice as long. While much work opening sections and on the interventions of the last was invested in the 36,000-word text, which was thirty years in the closing section. Along with now- supposed to communicate major themes as well as iconic images, we wanted to show those considered support and explain the images, we gave images representative, standard or widely used—an early pride of place. The low cost of the web space al- modern midwifery textbook image, an encyclopae- lowed us to reproduce 125. For each of the eight dia illustration, an embryo model, an ultrasound chronologically arranged sections, study of the scan—and to demonstrate how these images were existing scholarship (listed in the Resources section, produced, who made them and who saw them, in http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/visibleembryos/resources. which settings. The big image databases, such as html) was followed by the often much more diffi- Wellcome Images and the commercial Getty Im- cult quest for the right images and the information ages, were a great help, but we obtained many of the about them. Sometimes the choice was clear: for most interesting representations through correspon- instance, of Samuel Thomas Soemmerring’s pioneer- dence with scientists, artists, professional societies ing developmental series in Icones embryonum hu- and curators, as well as research in libraries and manorum (1799); Ernst Haeckel’s controversial and archives, not least the Carnegie Institution of Wash- canonical figures from the 1870s bringing human ington Archives collection. Explanations of how and other vertebrate embryos into the same frame, early ultrasound machines worked or of the artistic and Lennart Nilsson’s vivid and widely reproduced and editorial decisions behind the Time cover page photographs that since the 1960s have become that announced the birth of the ‘first test tube’ baby political weapons in abortion debates. In other cases simultaneously made the work on the exhibition fun choices were more open – especially on the variety and the final product fresh.

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 19 History of Science Society Newsletter

releases. It was quickly picked up by blogs, online magazines and various other Web sites. Useful tools such as Google Analytics and social bookmarking collec- tions showed us that some visitors came from parts of the world that an academic book probably would not reach – or certainly not so fast. Initial worries that the general audience might find the exhibition too dry or too difficult were dispelled by enthusiastic comments in places we had not expected. For instance, the acute remarks by the writer for The first test tube baby in Time (www.hps.cam.ac.uk/visibleembryos/s8.html) the highly popular Jezebel, a Web site on “celebrity, sex, fashion for women” (http:// But writing the text and collecting the images is jezebel.com/5223102/an-abridged-history-of-the-im- just part of the work: developing and designing the agery-of-the-human-embryo) generated several pages exhibition represented an equally demanding task. of discussion on Lennart Nilsson’s work and the Everyone knows what books look like and what they use of his images in abortion debates. New Scientist do, but rules for the new digital genres are much (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16745-how- less firm. We decided that a chronological–thematic the-hidden-contents-of-the-womb-became-visible. organization was best suited to convey the sense of html) used images from our exhibition to build a historical change. We also wanted the images to be slideshow in their Galleries section. Some readings reproduced as well as possible, while keeping the surprised us, and those were especially useful as an pages uncluttered and the site light to load. These insight into the extent to which knowledge seen requirements were fulfilled by using a horizontal, as standard in scholarly circles is accepted outside left-to-right menu bar with titles of sections and academia. pages, and by formatting images into small thumb- Now, almost a year later, we can ask what we nails that upon clicking opened into separate win- have learned. What are the advantages and disad- dows each containing an enlarged – and sometimes vantages of an online exhibition compared to the zoomed-in – image with an accompanying legend. more traditional forms of publication? Was it worth Overall, the design was kept simple, mainly because producing, and did it fulfil our expectations? notwithstanding the generous assistance of family One disadvantage is that while a good virtual and friends with professional IT experience, I am a exhibition may require as much research as a book, self-taught designer. the rewards are fewer and less certain. An exhibi- The exhibition was launched in October 2008, tion may be based on extensive research, have a first through discussion lists and then through press tight argument and attract numerous reviews, not to

20 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

mention vastly more readers than most books, but Possibly the biggest problem lies in the fact that it will not help an academic career in the same way. producing virtual exhibitions (and Web-based content There is no compulsory peer-reviewing, and lifespans more generally) requires general and more specialized can be short. This last concern, based on the (short) skills that historians – especially those who did not history of the Web, is valid, but recent initiatives for grow up with the Internet – in most cases do not have. archiving at least some Web sites for posterity, such Even if they do, they may not have the time. Elisabeth as the UK Web Archiving Consortium (http://www. Green Musselman ended her podcast project because webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/) and the U.S. National each episode took 40-60 hours to produce. Yet while Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation academics are commonly aware of what it takes to Program (http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/li- make a highly illustrated book, and of the design, brary/index.html) might alleviate this fear. Finally, printing and publishing networks behind it, the costs for all the immediacy and accessibility of the Web, of designing a Web site are still far less obvious – just for some people and some purposes it is more conve- as they were to us at the start. For many less experi- nient to work with a book. enced users – including some reviewers – the simple Many of these problems are not specific to vir- fact that certain technologies exist is enough to expect tual exhibitions or indeed web-based content, and them in a university-based project on a slim budget; are shared by academics engaged in producing other yet they would readily accept that books can be popu- non-traditional genres such as films and TV material. lar without high production values. In a post discuss- Yet the ubiquity of the Internet makes them more ing the reasons for the end of the Gutenberg-e scheme common and more visible, and may be the reason (http://www.hastac.org/node/1232), Cathy Davidson why change is on the horizon. Less than a decade ago has warned that early expectations for cheap produc- scholarly journals were reluctant to review (http://blog. tion of Web-based content were over-optimistic, and historians.org/publications/454/gutenberg-e-books- that deceptively simple Web sites depend on extensive now-available-open-access-and-through-acls-hu- professional teamwork. manities-e-book) online books published within the Yet there are ample compensations. The breadth of Gutenberg-e Project (http://www.gutenberg-e.org/), readership is wonderful. So is feedback at speeds that a prestigious joint scheme of the American Historical leave the usual modes of response, especially in the Association, Columbia University Press and Andrew humanities, far behind. We found that, while writing W. Mellon Foundation. Between 1999 and 2004, the for the Web is different from writing scholarly articles, scheme simultaneously promoted electronic publish- it is possible to make moderately complex arguments ing and helped junior scholars in need of a home for and to take historical specificity seriously. Some read- their first manuscript. In contrast, our exhibition ers plan to use the exhibition in teaching and it will be had been reviewed in several HSTM journals and in interesting to see, as the academic year begins in much Nature within a year of the launch. of the world, how this goes. The academic response Issues around intellectual property are another indicates that Web-based publishing is on its way to ac- minefield. Some owners of images generously waive li- ceptance. The technical demands of production remain cense fees for academic use, but many charge hefty rates, an obstacle, but new publishing platforms (for example often higher than for print publications. This is presum- Wordpress) might alleviate, if not entirely remove them. ably partly because the moment these images appear on Overall, the reception met and even exceeded our ex- the Web they are copied and used elsewhere. Easy access pectations; personally, I learned a great deal. also makes it easier to plagiarize content. The extent to which an exhibition should hyperlink to other Web Tatjana Buklijas sites is another tricky issue, related to the short average Liggins Institute lifespan and lack of permanence on the Internet. The University of Auckland, New Zealand

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 21 History of Science Society Newsletter

“Lusty Ladies or Victorian Victims?”

At a standing-room-only event idea for a course assignment. during the 117th Annual Conven- The resulting script, tion of the American Psychological entitled “Lusty Ladies or Association (APA) in Toronto this Victorian Victims: Perspec- past August, audiences were treated tives on Women, Madness, to the extremely rare, and probably and Sexuality,” was based unprecedented, group appearance of entirely on segments taken Dr. Lawson Tait, Dr. James Jackson from 19th century American Putnam, Dr. Elizabeth Garrett An- and British primary source Back row, from left to right, are Jennifer Bazar (Tait), Kelli derson, and Mr. Richard Paternoster. materials. Represented were Vaughn-Blount (Anderson), Laura Ball (Paternoster), and in The occasion: an early 21st century the perspectives of Lawson the front, Lisa Held (Putnam). re-enactment of a late 19th-century Tait (Bazar), a women’s their character’s perspective, using conference to discuss a troubling case surgeon and gynecologist who pio- their knowledge from the course and of nymphomania. The event was neered the ovariotomy as a treatment their own areas of historical research. particularly unusual because all of for women’s mental distress; James Questions included: How was female the presenters have been dead for at Jackson Putnam (Held), a neurologist insanity defined (or who defined least 90 years. Bringing them, and and one of the most distinguished female insanity and to serve what their views on women, madness, and nervous disease specialists in the aims)? Were women truly victims, sexuality to life were Jennifer Bazar, United States; Elizabeth Garrett as many 1970s feminist historians Lisa Held, Kelli Vaughn-Blount, and Anderson (Vaughn-Blount), a female have suggested, and if not, how did Laura Ball, four doctoral students in physician, surgeon, and suffragette, they express their agency? How did the History and Theory of Psycholo- and the first female physician licensed gender affect the diagnoses and treat- gy graduate program at York Univer- and listed on the British Medical ments selected by female physicians, sity in Toronto. Register; and Richard Paternoster compared to their male counter- Bazar, Held, Vaughn-Blount (Ball), a barrister, former asylum parts? For what other reasons, besides and Ball began to conceptualize their patient, and co-founder of Britain’s insanity, were women committed dramatic re-enactment in the fall Alleged Lunatics’ Friends Society, one to the asylum? Where can patient of 2008, during a graduate reading of the first patients’ rights groups. The voices be heard in this history, and course on the history of women and combative, yet respectful, dialogue, what can they tell us? Are there “vil- the asylum directed by Alexandra augmented by period-appropriate lains” in this history, and should we Rutherford. The course readings, costumes, vividly presented the audi- even look for them? which focused on the links between ence with the characters’ perspectives The Society for the History of gender, insanity, and sexuality in the on the social and medical treatment Psychology (SHP), Division 26 of mid-to-late 19th century, prompted of women’s insanity, sexual surgeries, the APA, acknowledged the pre- them to consider multiple histo- patient voices, the social construction sentation with their Best Student riographic issues, including a close of gender, neurological theories, and Paper Award for this year’s program. evaluation of whose agendas and patient rights. SHP’s Student Awards Commit- perspectives were represented in A spirited panel discussion fol- tee described the performance and both primary and secondary read- lowed the 30-minute re-enactment, subsequent discussion as “innovative ings. With their intellectual curiosity with audience members posing and original.” And by the way, they piqued, and their creative juices flow- questions to the presenters. The four all got As in the course! ing, the students came up with an students responded to questions from  – by Alexandra Rutherford

22 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter

Lone Star Historians of Science

The Lone Star History of Science Group wel- government sought to emphasize its radioisotope comed Angela Creager of Princeton University as program as a way to show that atoms could cure as the speaker at its 22nd annual meeting, held on 27 well as kill. Deftly illustrating her presentation with March 2009 at Rice University in Houston. Cyrus anecdotes and images, Professor Creager showed how Mody hosted the meeting, which was sponsored by the intersection of military and biomedical concerns Rice’s Humanities Research Center. behind the radioisotope program both propelled and Creager, a native Texan, earned a bachelor’s constrained efforts to promote nuclear medicine and degree in biochemistry and English at Rice before biology. In particular, radioisotopes shifted from heading to UC-Berkeley to complete a Ph.D. in bio- being “gifts” exchanged by individual researchers to chemistry in 1991. She then moved into the history commodities distributed and controlled by govern- of biology and, after postdoctoral work at Harvard ment agencies. After lively discussion of Creager’s and MIT, has taught in the history of science pro- talk, the group headed off to enjoy dinner and fur- gram at Princeton since 1994. Her book The Life of a ther conversation at the Black Lab restaurant (named Virus: Tobacco Mosaic Virus as an Experimental Mod- for the breed of dog, not for some dark and mysteri- el, 1930-1965 appeared in 2002, and she is currently ous experimental space). studying how radioisotopes were used in biomedical Each spring, the Lone Star Group draws together research in the mid-20th century. historians of science, technology, and medicine from At the Lone Star meeting, Creager spoke on around Texas and the Southwest to discuss their “Tracing Radioisotopes through the Biomedical shared interests and enjoy a friendly meal. Its consti- Complex, 1935-1955: From Gift Exchange to Com- tution, adopted over dinner in an Austin restaurant modification in the Atomic Age,” focusing on the in 1988, provides that there shall be “no officers, consequences of the transition from the early produc- no by-laws, and no dues,” and the group remains tion of radioisotopes in cyclotrons to their mass-pro- resolutely informal. The next Lone Star meeting will duction in the X-10 reactor at Oak Ridge, Tennes- be held at Texas A&M University in College Station, see, the first big nuclear reactor built as part of the Texas, in April 2010. Anyone interested in attend- Manhattan Project, and their subsequent distribu- ing should contact Tony Stranges of the Texas A&M tion for biomedical uses. As the nuclear arms race History Department at [email protected]. took off in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the U.S.

Seated: Steve Kirkpatrick, Victoria Sharpe, Angela Creager, Anna Fay Wil- liams. Standing: Roger Hart, Colleen Witt, Helen Hattab, Angela Smith, Bruce Hunt, Frank Benn, Alberto Martínez, John Zammito, Tom Williams, Cyrus Mody, and Anthony Stranges.

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 23 History of Science Society Newsletter

Centaurus, an International Journal of the History of Science and its Cul- tural Aspects: A New Face at a Respected Journal

When I tell my American colleagues that I will national journals in their own language and founded be the new editor of Centaurus, I run the risk of national history of science societies. International an uncomfortable silence. The and national journals and societ- reason is not, as I originally ies existed side by side. Although thought, because I am Dutch it took quite some time, ulti- instead of Danish, but that my mately political, economic, and colleagues don’t know about social developments in Europe the very existence of this “Inter- resulted in the establishment of national Journal of the His- a European Society for the His- tory of Science and its Cultural tory of Science (ESHS) in 2004. Aspects.” This is all the more The editor and staff at Aarhus striking, because in 2008 Cen- University, the home base of taurus celebrated the publication Centaurus, realized the moment of its 50th volume. Although had arrived for Centaurus to be- Isis is now publishing its 100th come the journal of that Euro- volume, most history of sci- pean society, although with the ence journals are considerably journal retaining its internation- younger than Centaurus, which al and therefore transcontinental celebrated its 50th volume with character. In 2007 Centaurus a special issue that reflected became the official journal of on the past by reprinting some the European Society. classic articles and looked into the future through Although a non-Danish editor can be considered contemporary comments on these classics. a natural step in the process of Centaurus’ transfor- The editors of Centaurus have always demon- mation, I was nevertheless surprised when asked to strated a good mix of acknowledging past develop- become editor. Under the guidance of Hanne Ander- ments along with present and future trends. Its sen, the process started by Helge Kragh – to broaden founder, Jean Anker, reacted in 1950 to a “demand the scope of the journal and to let it reflect the latest for facilities for publication” in the future, because of developments in the discipline – was coming to past developments of “increasing interest in the study fruition. I saw no reason to move the journal from of the history of science.” The journal was founded its home base in Aarhus, where it has been nurtured with the aim of being an “international journal of almost its whole lifetime. an independent character.” The hitherto exclusively I was surprised not only because I was not Dan- Danish editors served the international professional ish, but also because I was mainly focused on the community well by giving historians of science the American and the international history of science opportunity to publish their scholarship in a first- communities. I regularly attend the HSS annual class journal. meetings and participate in sessions about statistics, Over the years interest in the history of science genetics, and women and gender in science. I also increased and the discipline went through a process serve in various capacities, among others on the Isis of institutionalization and professionalization. More editorial board and the Margaret W. Rossiter His- journals were established. Many countries started tory of Women in Science Prize Committee. On the

24 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009

History of Science Society Newsletter international level I was for eight years the president of the Women’s Commission of the international organization of history of science (IUHPS/DHST) and have been a member of the Executive Council. But for the past couple of years I have been a dedicated associate editor of Centaurus. I was con- vinced that a journal connected to the European society would have good prospects and regularly discussed that with Hanne, the editor. I therefore trust that my taking over the editorship will again turn out to be a good combination of past attain- ments and future trends. I have become an honorary member of the Aarhus Science Studies Department, In this picture, taken in Aarhus, you see from left Claire where the assistant editor Claire Neesham is also Neesham, the assistant editor, Helge Kragh, Hanne Ander- located. Although I am not Danish, the basis of the son, myself and Kirsti Andersen. Together Helge, Hanne and journal will remain in Aarhus, where it is well taken Kirsti cover many years of editorship. care of. In the near future my aim is to further cultivate the relationship with the European Society, but also to offer members of the international history of science community a journal in which to publish papers that treat broad issues of general interest. My ambition, like my predecessor’s, is that the journal also be used to inform ourselves about important trends in our discipline. These aims will be pursued by special submissions, one of which is a spotlight section that will bring together a number of shorter articles that focus on a common theme. This feature will offer contributors the opportunity to raise issues concerning current historiographical discussions. Another development is a section for scholarly inter- action through a target article with invited commen- taries and author response. I look forward to receiving high-quality papers via our electronic submission system (see http:// mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cnt). I am open to sug- gestions about topics for future spotlights sections and target articles. You can always reach me by e-mail, [email protected]. I hope that Centaurus will receive its well-deserved place in the American history of science community. Take a look at http:// www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0008-8994.  – by Ida Stamhuis

History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009 25 History of Science Society Newsletter

Report from the First World Congress of Environmental History

The first World Congress of Environmental University 1-3 August, organized by European lead- History (WCEH) was held in August 2009 in ers in environmental history, including the chair of Copenhagen. Titled “Local Livelihoods and Global the World Congress Program Committee, Verena Challenges: Understanding Human Interaction with Winiwarter, who helped usher the inaugural meeting the Environment,” WCEH included more than four of the World Congress into reality. hundred presentations with 560 participants from 45 At the pre-conference, Winiwarter shared her de- countries. sign of the “T” model of environmental history ped- Denmark was a significant choice for the first agogy. We broke into small work groups that mixed WCEH since it was the first country to establish a scientists with social scientists – based on Roskilde’s Ministry of the Environment, in 1971. The venue progressive multidisciplinary research units – to and participants shifted the narrative from an Amer- create a proposal using ecological history to address ican-dominated version of the evolution of environ- complex current issues. I experienced the value of mental history to one that includes the contributions combining these different approaches to address of various countries and movements that preceded environmental history as a competent discipline the work of ’s Silent Spring, such as (the vertical line of the T) in an interdisciplinary the global movement to end nuclear weapons testing conversant style (the horizontal line of the T, which in the 1950s. reaches out in understandable terms to a variety of A sampling of just a few of my favorite pan- disciplines). The T model acknowledges the need for els shows the scope of the World Congress and its holistic approaches to address complexity – while emphasis on a multinational analysis of policies and highlighting the case-study approach – and prepared issues: the co-option of environmental rhetoric by me to glean the most out of the World Congress. NATO and Spain; recent deforestation in the coastal forests of Brazil; changing perceptions of the Arctic; WCEH was organized by the International Consor- the place of animals in environmental history; and tium of Environmental History Organizations, Malmö making warfare’s consequences visible. University (Sweden) and Roskilde University (Den- These broad views were enhanced by indigenous mark) and included organizers from Brazil, Swit- perspectives that created an emerging global nar- zerland, UK, India, South Africa, France, Canada, rative of responses and practices. For example, the China, United States, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Mowachaht Muchalaht First Nation, an indigenous Germany. village in Canada, experienced disproportionate exposure to industrial toxins. The case revealed the limits of western science to detect what was sensed Linda Richards is a graduate student in the history of as poisonous by the Mowachat Muchalaht and this science at Oregon State University mirrored the experience of the Navajo Nation with uranium mining pollution in the United States. For me, WCEH fulfilled environmental history’s prom- ise to be a working template to respond to global issues, a response not limited by borders or language. I was also privileged to participate in a pre-con- ference workshop for PhD students held at Roskilde

26 History of Science Society Newsletter • October 2009